Rauner Special Collections Finding Aids

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

The Papers on the History of the Town of Enfield and New Hampshire, Nellie Pierce, Collector, were given to the Dartmouth College Library over a period of years by several donors, including Nellie Pierce, George McKenzie Roberts and Wilson B. Roberts. The bulk of the collection, however, was given to the Library after the death of Mrs. Pierce in 1976, by her son, Richard Pierce of Springfield, Vermont. The collection is a rich resource for historians, genealogists, librarians and others with an interest in preserving the records of years gone by.

The “Enfield Collection” occupies 27 boxes or approximately 35.0 linear feet of shelf space. The papers are composed of town government records, correspondence, pamphlets, clippings, genealogical, cemetery and land transfer records, photographs, articles, school registers, highway records, deeds, calling cards, business advertisements, records of births, marriages and deaths, maps and tax records. The collection covers the years 1761-1975.

Among the more interesting items the collection offers are the Shaker materials. Shakers, or more properly, members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, first settled in Enfield in 1782, and for many years maintained a thriving community and contributed heavily to Enfield's economy. However, as older members died and no new recruits applied for admission to the Society, the remaining members could no longer keep up the property. The last few Enfield Shakers joined the Canterbury, New Hampshire Shaker family in 1915.

Descendants of old Enfield families will be interested in the very comprehensive genealogy section, and those on vital, cemetery and land transfer records. As a boy, George McKenzie Roberts had lived for a year in the Lockehaven section of Enfield; in the late 1950s, although elderly and in poor health, he spent several years compiling the vital statistics of Enfield into books as a gift to his “home town”. The accuracy and easy-to-use format of Roberts' work will be a boon to any genealogist or town historian.

Another section of especial interest is that on the Enfield schools. Most of the district school registers have been bound for easy location and use, and provide a fascinating view of education in the early years of the town. Wilson B. Roberts enjoyed gathering the history of the district schools and, over the years, provided the Dartmouth College Library with many articles and other materials for this part of the collection. He was primarily responsible, also, for the restoration of the Lockehaven schoolhouse as a museum in 1947, spending much time and money locating authentic artifacts and photographs to display.

A fourth topic of importance is the military history of Enfield. This section is particularly rich in records of the Revolutionary War, the Militia, and the Civil War, and includes many original documents. George McKenzie Roberts compiled the records of Enfield's Revolutionary soldiers and provided photostatic copies of their pension applications; one of these soldiers, George Knox, is memorable both because he was black and because he is reputed to have been a bodyguard of George Washington. The Civil War records include such original documents as enlistment papers, certificates of substitution and amount of bounty paid to soldiers for enlisting in the army. Letters from George Codman to his sister, Lucy Codman Choate, are from this era and of value as eye-witness accounts of the war.

Running through the “Enfield Collection” like a ribbon are the life history and interests of Nellie Pierce. Nellie Lydia White was born November 19, 1895 in Claremont, New Hampshire, but moved to Enfield in 1897, where her grandfather, L. W. Currier, was a member of an old Enfield family, a businessman and justice of the peace. Nellie White attended Enfield schools and graduated from New Hampshire University in 1916. After her marriage to Howard R. Pierce in that same year, she continued to live in Enfield and became active in many clubs and organizations.

In 1932, Mrs. Pierce earned a B.S. degree in library science from Simmons College; she became Enfield's part-time librarian and joined the Dartmouth College Library system, eventually becoming head librarian at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration library. In addition to community affairs, Mrs. Pierce's interests expanded to include genealogy, town history, costumes, covered bridges -- she led the fight to save Enfield's covered bridge, but was defeated -- and she was always interested in ways to improve library services. Despite the remarkable efforts of both George McKenzie and Wilson B. Roberts, the “Enfield Collection” could not have existed without the dedication to Enfield and its history displayed by Nellie Pierce, collector.

No restrictions have been placed on the use of this collection. Because of the age and fragility of some of the materials however, photocopying will be done at the discretion of Special Collections staff. Further information concerning Enfield, the Shakers, or Nellie Pierce may be found in Special Collections in the Dartmouth College Library.